Welcome to the 2018 GENERAL ELECTION. To help me read out words on the site you will need to highlight text and click on the speaker icon. Allternatively, you may click on the listen button.Click to listen highlighted text!Welcome to the 2018 GENERAL ELECTION. To help me read out words on the site you will need to highlight text and click on the speaker icon. Allternatively, you may click on the listen button.

His Excellency the President, Major General (Rt’d) Jioji Konrote paid a courtesy call to the Fijian Elections Office [FEO] today.

Addressing the staff of the FEO, His Excellency commended the work that has been put into preparing for the 2018 General Election.

“I have been personally following your work and I would like to, on behalf of the nation, I convey my personal gratitude and appreciation for getting our electoral system ready and for regularly informing and updating the members of the public about the progress to date.”

“The Fijian Elections Office continues to research and refine our electoral processes to ensure that we are in compliance with internationally accepted best practice as well as implementing principles that are becoming regarded as internationally accepted

President Konrote was also given a tour of the FEO Headquarters to meet with staff and observe some of the operations currently underway. He was also shown material that the FEO has developed for voter awareness and education in the lead up to Election Day.

His Excellency has expressed confidence in the capacity and capability of the FEO to deliver the 2018 General Election.

“I have no doubts that the constitutionally appointed Electoral Commission and the Supervisor of Elections and your staff have spent sleepless nights and left no stones unturned to ensure that the nation is ready for the next round of election.”

Supervisor of Elections Mr Mohammed Saneem thanked His Excellency for paying a courtesy call to the Fijian Elections Office and for his support to the FEO.

“Thank you for sharing with us your vision and your words of inspiration which will surely motivate us all to strive towards excellence in preparations for the 2018 General Election. “

“Your lively, vibrant personality and humble approach is something we will try to emulate when we deliver services and engage with them because the people of Fiji deserve nothing but the best,” he added.

Following the tour, the President had a private meeting with members of the Electoral Commission where he was provided a comprehensive Election preparation update by the Supervisor of Elections.

President Konrote was assured that the FEO is well on track with preparations for the 2018 General Election.

His Excellency in his parting words endorsed the activities of the Fijian Elections Office in the lead up to polling.

As of 03 July, 2018, the Fijian Elections Office [FEO] has lifted the temporary freeze on the amendment of voter details in the Western Division which was placed to prevent possibility of fraudulent changes for the homecare initiative.

Voters who have to update their details can visit the nearest FEO Office or Voters Services Centre to make necessary changes.

Indian High Commissioner, Mr Vishvas Sapkal with The Electoral Commission Chairperson, Mr Suresh Chandra at the Vehicle handover ceremony

The Electoral Commission this morning received a vehicle donated by the Indian Government through the Indian High Commission.

In taking delivery of the vehicle, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mr Suresh Chandra told the Indian High Commissioner, Mr Vishvas Sapkal, that it would boost their preparations for the 2018 General Election.

“An election poses to be the largest logistics exercise that any country would conduct in peace time,” Mr Chandra said.

“Such a massive operation must always be supported by the presence of logistics equipment such as vehicles for transport.

“Considering the effort that is required to conduct an election in a day as well as the requirements for the logistics of the Electoral Commission in travelling to and from other engagements, such an important gesture by the Indian Government will go a long way in facilitating the requirements of elections.”

Mr Sapkal informed Mr Chandra that the Government of India intends to further furnish the Electoral Commission with four more vehicles.

Mr Chandra said commended the effort of the High Commission of India for strengthening relations between the Government of India and Electoral Commission and the Fijian Elections Office.

“With the assistance of the our international partners and the support of our local stakeholders, we intend to make the 2018 General Election a platform for all Fijians to express their will with Confidence, Security and Freedom,” he said.

The Indian High Commission earlier donated indelible ink to the FEO for use in the 2018 General Election.

The Fijian Elections Office (FEO) will be extending the Contract Signing/ EO package distribution period from 14 to 19 May 2018. This will accommodate the Election Official (EO) applicants who are yet to sign their contracts.

After 21 May 2018, those applicants who have not signed their contracts will be replaced by EO applicants from the reserve pool.

The table below consist of all Eos name who have been assigned to the Polling Station and are yet to sign their contracts.

If your name appears on this listing, you may call the FEO officials hotline on 8917758 or 8971159 or email via eofficials@feo.org.fj to:

1. Update your personal details

2.Time, date and venue of current Contract Signing Venues

The FEO wishes to congratulate all the Eos who have already accepted and signed their contracts with us.

The Fijian Elections Office [FEO] has extended the Continuous Engagement Programme for Election Officials to next week in light of the weather conditions.

All public venues for contract signing in the Central and Western Division have been temporarily closed and these services will now be based at our Divisional Offices at Vanua Arcade in Suva and at Bouwalu Street in Lautoka.

The public venues will also be closed until 09 May, 2018.
“The FEO has noted that the rainy weather is not conducive to the signing of contracts and handing over of manuals to Election Officials. For the safety of all persons, we have taken the decision to extend the Programme to next week by which time the weather is expected to improve,” says Director Corporate Services Mr Sanjeshwar Ram.

The programme will continue as scheduled in the Northern Division as no adverse weather has been reported.

“Because we are set up in public places, the rain could damage electronic equipment and is also an inconvenience to the general public. We will be back at the same locations from next Wednesday.

The Supervisor of Elections Mr Mohammed Saneem this afternoon conducted the second round of briefings for the International community to update them on preparations for the 2018 General Election.

In attendance were representatives from all major Embassies, High Commissions and regional institutions in Fiji.

Apart from updates on election preparations, the Supervisor of Elections also briefed them on key projects that the Fijian Elections Office [FEO] is undertaking in relation the Election this year.

“Whilst the date is not known as yet, it’s important for the FEO to not only keep the voters informed but also our regional and international partners as to the progress Fiji is making towards the General Election”, said Mr Saneem.

The presentation also covered various aspects of the Multinational Observer Group’s 2014 recommendations and the manner in which the Fijian Elections Office has handled the said recommendations.

The Supervisor of Elections concluded the event by thanking the international community for their support to the Fijian Elections Office in capacity development and financial support and collaboration.

The Fijian Elections Office [FEO] today successfully conducted its first day of Trade Union Election on the recently acquired Touch Screen Voting Machines [TSV machines] through the Association of World Election Bodies [A-WEB].

The Fiji Nursing Association is the first union to utilize the machines.

The TSV machines were used at its Annual General Meeting held at Novotel, Lami today, in which 23 members of the Fiji Nursing Association cast their votes.

The FNA has a large membership which is distributed all over the country. 324 nurses have voted through post while the remaining made use of the Touch Screen Voting Machines at the meeting venue today.

Supervisor of Elections, Mr Mohammed Saneem said in terms of the analysis of the usage, the voting machines were simple to use.

“Whilst the Fijian Elections Office has noted that it will have to implement a more rigorous awareness and training exercise on the usage of the machines; the overall feedback from the voters was that it was easy and convenient.”

“The FEO will continue to use Electronic Voting Machines for Trade Union Elections in order to expose Fijians to more advanced means of voting and counting in Fiji,” he said.

Mr Saneem in recognizing the importance of today’s event mentioned that it was a step into the future and a hope that in due course Fiji would consider more introduction of electronics in elections.”

The 2018 General Election will NOT have any usage of Electronic Voting Machines.

Stakeholders and business houses are being invited to participate in postal voting awareness sessions by the Fijian Elections Office [FEO] in a bid to prepare them for the 2018 General Election.

FEO Director Operations, Anaseini Senimoli, said they approached service providers where staff – who are voters would benefit from postal voting services.

Business houses in various sectors which would be providing services on Election Day are the major targets as their employees might not be able to access their polling venue if they were working on the day of the elections.

“We had identified our stakeholders and divided them in the following sectors – Tourism Sector, Transport Sector, Emergency Services Sector, Security and Boarder Control Sector, Infrastructure and Utilities Sector and Business Sector,” she said.

Ms Senimoli said awareness was integral for employees and stakeholders in these sectors, as they may be working on Election Day and therefore are eligible for postal voting.

“This week, a total of 19 participants from 16 organisations turned up for the awareness session which included one from the Northern Division, seven from the Western Division, and 12 from the Central Division.”

“As part of the presentation, we informed participants on the grounds or eligibility criteria for postal voting as outlined in Section 67 (7) of the Electoral Act 2014, the postal voting process, how to fill out the postal voting application, important timelines such as opening and closing of applications and deadline of receiving postal ballots along with how we’re going to process their applications, packing, dispatching of postal packs and receiving of returned postal ballot papers.”

It is anticipated that staff who attend these awareness sessions will in turn convey the necessary information to their staff who may be working on Election Day and want to apply for Postal vote.

“We are planning to conduct similar sessions in the next couple of weeks as we are yet to invite other organisations.”

The following are the results of the Fiji Taxi Association [FTA] election which was conducted
by the Industrial Election team of the Fijian Election Office [FEO]:

The FEO confirms that Rabhen Bhan Singh is the new President of the FTA while Mahendra
Pratap Singh and Mohammed Faiyaz are the new Vice Presidents and Ashwin Ashis Lal is the
new General Secretary.
The positions of Assistant Secretary and Treasurer were uncontested and Shelwin Kumar
and Kamlesh Chand were respectively appointed.
The candidates duly elected are:

A total of 158 members out of the 276 registered members cast their ballot via postal vote
for the election which ran from Wednesday 25th July to Tuesday 31st July 2018.